Power Outage Repair
Fast Diagnosis & Repair

A power outage affecting only your home while your neighbors have power is almost always caused by an issue within your own electrical system rather than a utility grid problem. The most common cause is a tripped main breaker or a tripped individual circuit breaker — the main breaker can trip due to an overload, short circuit, or ground fault within your home, while individual breakers trip to protect specific circuits. Other possible causes include a loose or corroded connection at the main breaker or meter socket, a failed main breaker that needs replacement, a problem with the utility service connection at the weatherhead or service mast (especially after storms or high winds), or a LADWP issue specific to your property such as a failed meter or a problem with the service drop from the pole. We recommend first checking your main breaker — if it has tripped to the center position, try resetting it. If it will not reset or immediately trips again, call a licensed electrician.

The first step is to determine whether the issue is on the utility side or within your home. Check if your neighbors have power — if they are also out, the problem is with the utility grid and you should call LADWP at (800) 342-5397 to report the outage. If only your home is without power, the issue is almost certainly within your own electrical system and you should call a licensed electrician. Before calling, check your main breaker — if it has tripped, you may be able to reset it. If the main breaker is in the ON position but you still have no power, or if the breaker trips immediately when you try to reset it, you need an electrician to diagnose the problem. In cases where there are downed power lines, a damaged meter socket or weatherhead, or visible damage to the service drop from the utility pole, call LADWP first for the utility side and then us for the customer-side repairs.

The repair time for a power outage depends on the root cause. Restoring power after a tripped main breaker or replacing a failed individual breaker typically takes 1 to 2 hours for our electrician to diagnose and complete the repair. Repairing a loose or corroded connection at the main breaker or meter socket takes 2 to 4 hours and may require partial service disconnection coordinated with LADWP if the connection is on the utility side of the meter. Replacing a failed main breaker or an entire panel that has been damaged takes 4 to 8 hours and also requires LADWP coordination. For issues involving damaged service masts, weatherheads, or service drops caused by storms or accidents, LADWP must first address the utility-side damage, then we repair the customer-side equipment — this can take 1 to 3 days depending on LADWP availability for the meter release inspection. We prioritize power outage calls as emergencies and dispatch the nearest available electrician.